CENTRAL NEW JERSEY

 This page will mostly cover the former Lehigh Valley freight main from Newark to the Flemington area.  After the Conrail split, CSX now owns the former Reading line from Manville Jct. to Philadelphia while Norfolk Southern now owns the former Lehigh Valley main west from Manville toward Allentown, PA.  The old Jersey Central main is now owned by NJ Transit and is largely commuter service only.

     A decent railfan spot is the Union, NJ station.  Located on the Lehigh main near
 Kean College, it is a safe and legal place to watch the action.  These two shots on a hot, sultry August 2003 day.

    July 27, 2008.  A new cluster of condominiums has been built around the station area.
One high rise building has balconies overlooking the station platform.  Nice place to live for the die-hard fan.  I don't 
know how much sleep you would get, though.

NS and CSX action at South Plainfield, NJ 

      CSX eastbounds at South Plainfield, August 12, 2005  11-5-08.

  9166 with a Conrail blue switcher and 1705, an ex-Erie Lackawanna SD45-2 dead-in-tow westbound, 11-11-05.

6504 westbound    UP 4024 with a BN cream and green color units in the middle.  11-11-05

     January 2006 action.  The third unit in the NS train is another ex-Erie Lackawanna unit, 1703.

  NS was working on the Fourth of July, 2010 as 6691, a standard cab SD 60 leads an eastbound double stack.

    White-face NS 7610 is eastbound on Sunday morning, May 2, 2010 just west of So. Plainfield.

  A few miles east of Bound Brook is the town of Piscataway.  This sharp curve is near the New Market pond. 9-2008.

    NS 7692 passes the defect detector at Middlesex, NJ.  May 2, 2010.

    Sunday morning train to Newark through Middlesex.  The bi-levels are standard fare on the Raritan Line.

  4023 westbound at the Cedar Ave crossing in Middlesex. 5-2-10.

Several trains passing the former CNJ station at Bound Brook.  I'll rate this place as one of the best railfan spots in the east.

  Why?  As a NJ Transit train makes its stop, a westbound freight screams by on the old Lehigh Valley main. 1998.

  CSX 7735 heads west passing construction work for the new second track, February 2007

  4213 pushing east at Bound Brook.  Get your shots of these conventional cab GP40's now.    The Raritan Valley Line usually
 hosted many of these older Geeps, so it is a good place to catch some.  

  4206 pushes east in February 2007     4218 in September 2008.

            These F40's are also on borrowed time

  A CSX eastbound on the new track alignment, 10-6-2007.

   Final trackwork being done in early December 2007

    NS 7554 on an eastbound using the new eastbound main.  12-15-07

     CSX westbound on number 2 track, 3-29-08. 

  A trio of SD-40's swing off onto the Port Reading Line at Bound Brook Jct.  3-22-08

         Action on 8-2-2008.

    Two short container and piggy back trains on July 12, 2009.

    Bound Brook 11-29-2008  

        Some westbounds and eastbounds, 2010.

  NJT trains on the Raritan Valley Line are made up of new bi-levels cars in 2010.

        A busy morning, August 8, 2010.    18G Port Reading Jct.

About 2 miles west of Bound Brook is the junction point in Manville.  As noted above the CSX and NS separate here and go their respective ways.  For those not totally familiar with the area, what is now the CSX main (formerly Reading) came up from Philadelphia and crossed the Lehigh Valley (now NS) at a diamond crossing.  From there the tracks crossed the river and joined the CNJ main to reach Jersey City.  The current yard was former Reading property.  Today the diamonds are long gone and the CSX simply curves into the new junction.  What remains of the former Reading above the old crossing is used as a siding to load trash containers.  The river bridge and the basic track alignment where the Reading line met the CNJ is still very evident.  The Reading did have a secondary line to Port Reading.  The piece of that line from the yard to what is now Bound Brook Interlocking was taken out of service, however the remainder of the Port Reading Secondary is very much in use.

       Conrail era photos from 1999.

      Saturday, July 30, 2005 action at Manville Jct.

          A quiet Labor Day 2005 weekend at the Manville yard.

      Manville, NJ  October 2005

  This B-30-7 is getting a bit ratty looking.  October 21, 2006  

  A rare bird for this area. Manville 11-29-08.

  A new track and switch alignment at Manville/Bound Brook Jct. Jan 2009

  GP38 5637 June 2010

Just west of the junction is the downtown Manville.  Here the NS (former Lehigh Valley) passes directly through the middle of the town.

   Manville, August 2005

Several shots of westbound trains passing the site of the old LV station in Manville, NJ.         Some eastbounds parked in Manville.

  8453 waiting on a eastbound at Manville, 11-30-05

     Two late evening westbounds on 6-28-06.  August 2006

  Eastbound near 13th Street crossing, October 2008.    Another in March 2009.

          NS 2578, an SD60 is westbound on the siding.  The signal is at Royce Valley and serves as the approach signal for Manville Jct.  Royce Valley is where Route 206 passes under the railroad.  December 2005.

    NS 8444 eastbound in early morning of April 11, 2010 at Royce Valley.

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